In modern wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical networks, an optical transceiver may need to tune and/or stabilize its optical signal wavelength in response to changing environmental/operating conditions, e.g., temperature fluctuations, non-ideal component performance due to deterioration and/or manufacture defect, etc. For instance, an optical transceiver may manipulate one or more characteristics of their optical transmitter, e.g., bias current, temperature, etc., so as to maintain their optical signal wavelength within an assigned channel. In some WDM networks, e.g., dense WDM (DWDM) networks, the spacing between channels may be relatively narrow such that even minor optical signal deviations may result in crosstalk and/or interference between neighboring channels. Hence, a significant design goal for modern optical transceivers may be to include appropriate functionality for wavelength stabilization.
Another significant design concern for modern optical transceivers may be cost, as optical transceivers may represent a substantial portion of overall network cost. The most costly component in many optical transceivers is the transmitter optical module, which may be responsible for converting an electrical signal into an optical signal. Transmitter optical modules may be commercially available in various different transmitter optical sub-assembly (TOSA) packages, such as a butterfly package 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1 or a transistor outline (TO) can (TO-can) package 200 as illustrated in FIG. 2.